THE CHURCH IN PUERTO RICO'S DILEMMA


churches would be increased to 115, or 36 per cent of all of the
Evangelical churches in the island.
 The average salary paid to the pastors of the seven cooperating
church groups is $85.68 per month or $1,028 annually. The lowest
paid group of pastors receive $66.66 per month, and the highest
are paid nearly double this sum-$124.25 per month. Including
in the computation the Pentecostal salary scale which averages
$30.00 per month, the average salary for the pastors of all nine
denominations is reduced to $77.38 per month or $928.56 per year.
 The combined annual church budgets for the nine denomina-
tions, representing approximately the entire Evangelical work in
Puerto Rico, total $343,515. Of this sum, $I42,043 is raised an-
nually by the island churches, and $201,472 is contributed by the
mission boards, or 41.3 per cent and 58.7 per cent respectively. Ex-
cluding the Seventh-day Adventist and Pentecostal Churches
which are 95.2 per cent and 91.2 per cent self-supporting, we
find that the total annual expenditure of the seven cooperating
church groups amounted to $295,254 of which the Puerto Rican
churches contributed $97,282, and the mission boards provided
$197,972, or 33 per cent and 67 per cent respectively.
 The per capital annual contribution to the church varies within
the seven cooperating denominations from $2.13 to $5-93, with
an average gift of $3.87 per member. The extraordinary per capital
giving of the Seventh-day Adventist churches is in a class quite
by itself, for it amounts to no less than $14.28 a year per member
or $1.19 per month.
 The following tables indicate the comparative strength and
 nature of the nine denominational Churches of Puerto Rico:
 Com-
 municant Candidates
 Organized Mem- for
 Churches bership Constituency Baptism
Baptist . ... 47 5,046 15,000 507
Disciples . .. 28 4,000 8,500
Episcopal . .. 21 3,500 7,300
Lutheran . .. 14 1,030 5,000 223
Methodist . ... 26 3,120 12,000 1,420
Presbyterian . .. 40 4,734 13,443 259
United Evangelical 32 4,646 10,000 413
Seventh-day Adventist 25 1,400 3,000 250
Pentecostal . .. 86 4,646 7,611 1,982


81,854 5,054


TOTALS


. 319 32,122